Scorching Appetite
by Because Love is WAY Over-rated
Summary: The royal princess has decided to become a royal pain in the ass and run off and now I've been forced into the search party to bring her back home. Wrong turns get me lost, but maybe that's where I need to be to find what my heart truly desires. sexual
1. Set Sail

_**Scorching Appetite **_

_Chapter 1: Set Sail_

"Hurry up Sokka, I don't want the ship to leave without us because you were busy screwing about with the house maids," Katara huffs from behind my door. I shoot a look at the carved wood, my hands never stopping their roaming over the curvy body lying beneath me.

"Why do you always assume that I'm screwing around? Maybe I'm just finishing packing," I defend, but right after the words have come out my hand slips under the short skirt of my maid and travels a little too far, her soft mew of pleasure loud in the otherwise silent room.

"I rest my case. You have five minutes before we leave without you," Katara threatens before I hear her retreating footsteps. Grinning, I turn my attention back to the woman writhing beneath me; marveling at how responsive her body is as I ghost a finger along her panty line and her hips arch forward.

"Five minutes; more than enough time," I assure the young maid before pulling off her underwear in one fluid motion and lowering my mouth as her eyes roll back in her head and her lips part in a silent scream.

_00-00-00_

"Fix your hair, Katrina made a mess of it," Katara points out as I walk towards her, my seal fur jacket lying lazily over my shoulder.

"You should see what kind of state she's in," I tease my baby sister, winking as she just rolls her eyes. Three years ago and Katara would have thrown a complete hissy fit if I had said something like that to her. Now, however, seeing as she's almost 20 and I'm 24, she's gotten used to my 'whorish ways'; as she so nicely puts it.

"You know, I've seen Katrina sneaking around Marco's room a couple of times. What happens if they get together while we're gone for these next two months?" Katara asks, raising her eyebrow as I start laughing.

"Please, you think I don't know about them? Why do you think I always have Katrina clean my rooms like first thing in the morning? I'm not gonna stick my dick in her if she's already had Marco's tic tack in there," I say, wrinkling my nose in distaste as Katara just stares at me.

"Well it would explain why your morning showers are always so long," she finally says, actually laughing a little.

"Christ Kat, you're becoming twisted," I point out before grinning like a mad man. "I've never been more proud," I add, mocking all sentimental emotions as I wrap my arm around my baby sister's neck and give her a nuggie.

"Hey! Hands off before I water whip you into next week!" Katara threatens and I quickly pull away in surrender.

"I prefer leather whips; less messy," I say casually and Katara just laughs, shoving against my shoulder as we approach the dock.

"Miss Katara, Master Sokka," the boat hand greets us, extending his hand for Katara as he helped her step onto the ship; the action earning him a smile and polite thanks.

I know that Katara is no Virgin Mary, having been there to listen to her gush about how nicely her boyfriend of three years, Zuko, had treated her. It's safe to say that our last visit to the Fire Nation had been a very awkward one since the whole time I wanted to beat the shit out of Zuko for taking away Katara's innocence. Best friend or not, that's my baby sister he's taking to bed in the room right down the hall from mine and that means that he's gonna get his ass beat.

"What are you doing Sokka? Get out of my room," Katara ordered, trying to shoo me out of her doorway where I was just standing.

"Sorry Kat, I started thinking about fucking Katrina," I lied, smiling just enough that my canine tooth popped out making my smile what females called _irresistible_.

"You pervert," Katara muttered before closing her door in my face. I laughed quietly before heading over to the door where the guy from the dock was waiting for me.

"These are you quarters, Master Sokka," he announced and I checked to make sure the hallway was empty before grabbing the guy by his collar and throwing him inside of my room.

"Listen here, you little creep," I started, stalking over to the place where the dock hand sat cowering. "If I see you in this hallway again, I will beat the shit out of you. If I see you near Katara, I will beat the shit out of you. If I see you even _look _at Katara, I will beat the shit out of you. Understand?"

By the time I was finished with my threats, I was a little more up close and personal with the guy than I would've liked to have been, but it helped to get my point around so I stood my ground.

"Y-yes Master So-Sokka," he stuttered and I smiled before my eyes narrowed.

"Good. Now get the fuck out of my room," I ordered and the guy nodded, hell he even bowed to me, before running out of my room like it was on fire. I heard him skid on the carpet in the hallway and crash into the opposite wall and I couldn't help but laugh my ass off at how much of a pussy that guy was.

"Master Sokka," a voice said from the doorway and I looked up to see the general of my father's army. "Your father wishes to see you in his quarters at once," he said and I nodded, following him out of my room. As I was lead through the winding hallways of my father's best ship, the one that he always traveled in and sometimes allowed Katara and I to take when traveling, Katara came jogging up to me with her own escort.

"Who did you get pregnant this time, Sokka?" she demanded, glaring at me as we continued to walk behind the two generals.

"Why am I always the one that has to do something wrong?" I asked before quickly realizing what a stupid question that was as Katara just continued to glare at me. "Oh just shut up, it's not like you're little miss perfect," I huffed, but Katara just continued to glare at me; knowing that I was wrong and she was right. "Honestly, if I got a girl pregnant, why would you be coming too?"

Katara was stumped at this; her lack of having something to say a rarity that I internally giggled about.

"Well if you didn't get a girl pregnant, then who do you owe money to?" she asked and I just rolled my eyes.

"Face it Katara, this has nothing to do with me specifically and you know it," I said proudly, smirking at her. "And besides, I stopped gambling last week after I lost your fur coat to a gay worker from the kitchens," I added with a shrug and Katara turned to face me completely, shoving against my chest as she stared at me in disbelief.

"You told me you quit two months ago!" she yelled, the generals turning to look at us oddly. To them I could only shrug. _Girls will be girls, you know? _Somehow though, I figured that telling them that wouldn't be a very wise thing to do especially with Katara so close.

"You gambled with my fur coat?" she then yelled, finally registering just what I had said to her.

"Don't worry, I can just start gambling again and win it back for you," I tried to reassure Katara, but that only seemed to make her angrier. "Or!" I quickly said, wracking my brain for ideas. "I could just buy you a new one from the Fire Nation that no one else will have. How does that sound?"

There was a tense moment in which I wasn't sure if Katara would take the bait or use some of the millions of gallons of water we were floating on to completely destroy me. _At least then that pervert boat hand would be too scared to come near her. _

"Fine," Katara finally said before turning away and continuing to walk. I followed right behind her, falling into my casual walk as if I hadn't just been silently threatened by a master water bender.

"But seriously, why the hell are we being called into dad's room? If I didn't do anything _exceptionally _bad and you've just been you these past couple of days then I see no reason for this little family meeting to even happen," I mumbled, wondering just how long it took to get to my father's quarters. Like seriously, where the hell did he live? The freakin twilight zone?

"Do you have any idea why we've been called in, General?" I asked, not really specifying which of the two I was talking to; so long as I got an answer.

"Sorry Master Sokka, but we weren't told anything except to seek you out," the general that got me answered before he finally came to a stop in front of a rather intricately carved door. I think Katara was thinking the same thing about the door as I was because it looked like she could've stayed standing where she was for days and just take in all the details of the craftsmanship.

_Gosh, what a dork. _I thought, smiling all the same as I looked at my little sister with fondness. If there was one thing I was glad about, it was how amazing Katara turned out. I'm honestly surprised she didn't turn out messed up or something, seeing as she was raised by multiple baby sitters since our father was never around and then I was there to help raise her too technically… but that's not exactly a good thing.

"Quit staring you loser," Katara muttered, blushing all the same as she pulled me into our father's quarters. The generals stayed behind, as expected since there was no way they'd be important enough to be a part of a family meeting.

"Father," both Katara and I greeted, bowing before the Water Tribe leader.

"Children, please, rise. You should know by now that you don't need to bow to me," our father reminded us and I simply nodded while Katara smiled at him. If there was another thing about Katara that I was proud of, it was that she still had the ability to love our father while I could barely stand to look at him. Katara is too young to remember just what exactly it was like after mom died, but it was shit storm after shit storm with no end in sight. There was actually a period of time where, even at the young age of seven, I wasn't sure if our father would continue leading the Southern Water Tribe. Of course everything worked out though because dad just dumped the duty of raising us on some multitude of nannies that watched us play with snow.

Oh yeah, childhood was a blast with dad.

"What's the reason we were called in, father?" I asked, only giving him the title of father out of formality and I guess some respect because while he failed as a parent, my father did know how to run a tribe.

"Something happened concerning Ozai and his children," our father began and my attention instantly went to Katara as she noticeably paled. I wanted to comfort her; maybe just hold her hand so that she knew I was there, but I was frozen to the spot.

"As you may have noticed during out last visit, Ozai's and Azula's relationship wasn't as strong as usual and it's led to Azula running away," father continued on and I listened as Katara gasped next to me, watching from the corner of my eyes as her hand flew up to her mouth in shock.

"How long ago did this happen?" I asked, surprised at how hoarse my voice sounded. I've never been particularly close with Zuko's younger sister Azula, but her running away was just horrible news.

"A couple of months, I just wasn't sure how to tell you and figured that she would've returned home by now so that you children wouldn't even have to worry about it. Seeing as we're on our way to the Fire Nation now, it's important that you become aware of the circumstances there so that there isn't any confusion."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Katara demanded, advancing towards our father with her eyes narrowed. I already knew that somehow she was going to make this all relate back to Zuko so she could make a big deal about it and guilt trip our father. If only she used her big blue eyes for good and actually got something out of her guilt trips instead of just the satisfaction of knowing she was right once again.

"All this time and Zuko's been alone and unable to talk to me about," Katara whispered pathetically, down casting her eyes in part one of her act. It always starts with her sad, then the hopeless questions, and then she turns it back onto dad by making him feel bad about not telling her sooner. It works every time too and only with her. I tried it once and, well…it really didn't work out as well.

"He hasn't been exactly alone," our father said and I cocked my eyebrow as Katara just stared.

"What the hell do you mean by _that_?" she bit out, hands fisting at her sides.

"Azula's close friend, Mai, has been around the castle with Ty Lee. Ozai says that they've been stopping by a lot and helping with the search party," dad said indifferently and I could only watch as steam all but rolled out of Katara's ears; her face turned an extremely unattractive shade of red as well.

"_What_? That whore has been hanging around with Zuko these past two months acting like his shoulder to lean on and I didn't even know about any of this?" Katara yelled, throwing up her fisted hands in an outrage.

"Katara, you shouldn't talk about Mai that way. She has a very respectable father and has only ever been a good friend to you and Zuko," dad tried to tell Katara, but she wasn't hearing any of it as she just went on ranting.

"I can't _believe _you dad! How could you have not told me about this earlier? We should have been on the first ship over to the Fire Nation the day that Azula ran away!" she yelled and I just stood back and observed.

I'm not blind to the ways that Mai looks at Zuko when Katara isn't around. Hell, Mai sometimes shoots Zuko those looks when Katara is sitting right next to him. I honestly have no doubt that Mai is putting the moves on Zuko right now. If not, she's definitely thinking up ways to get him into her bed.

"I want the crew working around the clock so that we can get to the Fire Nation as soon as possible," Katara hissed before storming out of our father's quarters. I stayed behind for a moment, a bemused look on my face as I let out a low whistle and walked over to dad.

"That went really well Pops. Maybe next time though, you won't keep something concerning Zuko dearest from Kat for a couple of months," I suggested, patting dad's shoulder before leaving his office and heading for the deck. I really should be going to Katara to make sure she's okay, but right now all I really want is some fresh air and to feel the sea breeze on my face. Besides, Katara is a big girl and I'm pretty sure she's past the teen angst phase of her life so I don't have to worry about her slitting her wrists over this any time soon.

"Master Sokka, would you like anything to drink?" a waiter on the deck asked; a tired sigh escaping my lips as I looked longingly over at the head of the ship.

"Sure," I gave in. "Uh, something strong and not fruity. I want this trip to be over as quickly as possible, so the sooner I can get wasted and pass out, the better," I told the man and he just nodded before leaving me alone. With him gone, I could finally head out to my favorite part of the ship where I actually had a bench built so I could sit there for hours… which I do whenever we travel. I was about to sit when the waiter returned with my drink which I took while at the same time asking for them to keep coming.

"You have some horrible habits, you know," Katara muttered as she came walking up from behind me. I turned, looking over at her with semi blurry vision as I held my fourth drink in my hand.

"One day you'll learn that money can buy you happiness," I started and Katara just cocked her eyebrow in confusion. "Money buys booze, booze brings happiness," I explained and Katara just rolled her eyes, sitting down next to me all the same. I offered her a drink, half expecting her to turn it down because of her saintly ways, but to my shock and joy she accepted and downed the drink in one gulp.

"Thanks," she whispered hoarsely and I couldn't help but chuckle, signaling the waiter over and telling him to bring over more drinks.

"No problem, you looked like you could use one," I said and Katara just shot me a look, accepting the drink the waiter brought for her.

"I can't believe he didn't tell me about Azula earlier," Kat finally mumbled after swallowing down two more glasses of the hard liquor. By that point, I had consumed nearly seven glasses of what I guessed to be fire whiskey mixed with vodka; Fire Nation really does have all the best booze. Thanks to my 'bad habits' though, I'm only just starting to get buzzed which quiet honestly pisses me off.

"Are you surprised? He barely even spends time with us; why go out of his way just to tell us something that doesn't concern us directly?" I said bitterly, staring down at the drink in my hand. Is alcoholism hereditary in our family? It would really explain why I love the stuff so much, but I don't know enough about my family to really say.

"Dad just has a lot to do, all of which he does to make our lives better," Katara lamely tried to defend our father, failing horribly as I snorted.

"Oh yeah, because spending all of his nights with a bunch of whores really helps make our lives so much better. Thanks a lot _Dad_," I hissed, swallowing down another drink. A waiter came by, maybe the same one from before but I was getting too drunk to notice; the faces all blurring together as I picked up another glass.

"You don't know about any of that for sure Sokka," Katara tried to tell me but I just laughed coldly.

"So the number of times we've seen nameless women leaving his room in the mornings means nothing? Where did you think I got my 'man whoring' ways from? I only ever learned from the best," I said, laughing humorlessly to myself as Katara stiffened next to me.

"I miss Mom," she finally said, speaking so quietly that I almost didn't even hear her. When I finally processed her words though, my blood ran cold as I squeezed my eyes shut and swallowed whatever was left over from the glass in my hand.

"I do too," I whispered before pulling Katara into my arms as she began to cry.

_**00-00-00**_

Alright, so I know that I haven't updated anything in over a year (some stories more than two years), and I'm sorry for that. I realize that this isn't an update or a TT/TDI story, but I wanted to give you all _something_ while I struggle to get an update posted. I have the first 5 chapters of this story already written, so I'm going to post an update hopefully every two months (if I remember) so that way I can still be posting something while also having plenty of time to work on other things.

I am currently rereading _Just My Way_ and _When the Dead Live_ so those are going to be the first ones I get updates posted for because they seem to be the most popular.

**Serious note: **If anyone has ANY ideas for any of my stories, or even just a thought of where you'd like to see it go, I would LOVE to hear it. _Please_ either message me or include it in a review because your ideas will only help me write easier.

I have one more week before summer starts at which time I plan to really bunker down and get some updates posted. So please just hang tight. You all are amazing and I've missed this whole writing gig.

_K_


	2. Working Against the Elements

_Chapter 2: Working Against the Elements_

"Fuck," I hissed, rolling over in bed and trying to get out of the pool of light that had been shining directly onto my face.

"Sokka you need to get up," a voice said and it took me a while to figure out that it was Katara.

_Of course, just has to wake me up. _I thought angrily, grumbling nothing in particular as I pulled my pillow over my head. I was about to fall back asleep when cold water was dumped onto my body. For a second I was flailing before I fell right off of my bed and onto the hard wooden floor.

"Oh good, you're awake," Katara said sweetly and I rubbed my eyes before glaring up at her. To this, Kat just smiled and it made me want to wring her little neck but not really; she is my sister after all.

"Yeah, _thanks_," I muttered, looking down at my soaked clothes before glaring at Katara again.

"Clean up and get dressed; there will be pills for your hangover waiting for you in the dining room," she said before leaving my room, not even bothering to close the door behind her.

_Jesus Christ, how much did I have to drink last night? _I thought, trying to remember just what exactly happened last night. All I knew was that I didn't sleep with any of the female boat workers because they would have still been in my bed…

"Unless they snuck out early," I mused aloud, scanning over my room for any sign that I'd gotten laid the night before. There was none though, so with a sigh I started to try and stand up. I say try because just as I began to move a headache formed and it made me want to curl up in a ball and just sleep the rest of the day away.

"Master Sokka, are you alright?" a voice I didn't recognize asked. Squinting because of my headache, I towards my doorway to see a maid dressed in her sexy little outfit with a concerned look on her face.

"Actually," I began, wincing kinda just for show but also because my head hurt, "I have a horrible headache and could really use some help getting ready. Katara wants me to have breakfast with her, but I can't move because it hurts my head too much and I don't want to let down my little sister; she's all I have," I lied, totally hamming it up. It all worked, every bit of my lie, as the maid rushed over and wrapped her arm around my waist so she could help hoist me up. Actually using her help because my balance wasn't all that great, I managed to sit down on my bed.

"Care to help me get out of these clothes?" I asked and the young maid turned pink as her eyes roamed over my body. By the way her chest shook as she exhaled I could tell that she liked what she was seeing.

"Uh- of course," she quickly said, smiling at me. I let her do all the work when it came to taking off my soaked wife beater, wanting her to be the one that slowly revealed my chiseled abs. Once my shirt was gone completely, all that was left were my boxers but I couldn't expect her to do that one; she was still much too modest for that job. So, standing up with much more ease than earlier, I hooked my fingers in the waistband of my boxers and then began to slowly pull them down. The whole time I never took my eyes off of the maid's face, loving the way her eyes got wide as more and more of my body was revealed to her.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she gasped out, trying to keep her eyes on my face though I knew it was hard since I was standing completely naked in front of her. The tattoo of a wolf's head stained into the lower skin of my right hip probably didn't help to keep her eyes upward either.

"Well I have to take a shower," I said, smirking at the maid as her eyes grew even wider; most likely from all the fantasies flashing through her head right now. "You're welcome to join me," I offered casually, brushing past the maid and making my way over to my bathroom. I felt her eyes on my body the whole time, roaming down my backside and taking in my muscled appearance.

"I-I couldn't," she said and I had to bite back the urge to laugh at how upset her voice sounded.

"Of course you can; you wouldn't want me falling over in the shower because of my headache, right?" I baited her and she seemed to think about it for a second, looking over to the door before looking back at me. Watching her every move, I started to worry that she was going to leave as she headed over for my open door, but she just closed it. When the lock clicked into place, I felt my smirk grow wider; oh this was going to be fun.

"What about breakfast with your sister?" the maid asked as she walked back over to me. When she was in reached distance, I grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her forward so that her chest was pressed up against mine. Moments like these remind me why I love my height because I always get the best views of cleavage.

"Don't worry," I whispered, my voice already husky as I unzipped her dress and slid it off of her slender form, "I'll have you screaming in no time." After I said this, the woman let out a soft whimper before taking off the rest of her clothes. She reached for the buckle of her heels, but I gently gripped her chin and pulled her back up.

"Keep the shoes on; they're hot," I assured her before leaning down and kissing her, pulling away with her bottom lip between my teeth.

"Yes Master Sokka," she practically moaned and I felt myself grow hard.

"Say it again," I whispered against her ear, kissing along her jaw before traveling down her neck where I left my mark multiple times.

"Wha-what?" she gasped out, her nails digging into my biceps as I gripped her hips and pulled her lower half against mine.

"My name; I wanna hear you moan it again," I growled, letting one of my hands wander down to her completely shaven (Christ is woman is amazing) pussy and run along her already soaked slit. This didn't earn me the moan I wanted, though I did earn _a _moan, so I took it one step further and slipped my middle finger inside of her.

"Oh yes! _Yes _Master Sokka!" she cried, digging her nails into my shoulders as she threw back her head.

"Good girl," I purred before pulling her into the bathroom.

What a wonderful way to start out the day.

_00-00-00_

As I strolled into the dining room, there was a smirk on my face as I licked my lips and thought back to what I was doing just ten minutes ago.

"I was going to ask what took you so long, but the look on your face says it all," Katara said, tearing me away from my thoughts. I sat down next to her and smiled.

"Aww come on Kat, don't be like that. It's only fair after my rude awakening," I told Katara and she just scoffed, handing me a plate of food anyway. "Love you too sis," I said before leaning over and kissing her cheek.

"Eww gross Sokka! Can you do me a favor and not kiss me after you've been with someone; I don't want to think about what you're smearing onto my cheek," she said, wiping at her cheek but smiling all the same.

"So," I said, prolonging the 'o' as I poured myself some juice. "What's on the agenda today?"

"Nothing really," Katara said with a sigh, pushing her food around on her plate.

"Well I hear that the bar is having a special today: everything is free," I said with a grin and Katara just looked over at me with that 'you're joking right?' look. "Or maybe no," I mumbled, taking a bite out of a piece of fruit.

"I'm sorry Sokka, but my hobbies don't include getting wasted on a daily basis and having bouts of random and probably unprotected sex," Katara said with a shrug and I just nodded.

"I understand, you just want to get to Zuko and won't be any fun until you see him and kick Mai's ass. Don't worry sis, I've got your back on that one," I assured her and she smiled warmly at me.

"Thanks Sokka," she said and I just smiled back before turning my attention to my food.

"Now hush until I finish; I'm absolutely starved," I groaned. "And where are those pills you promised me? Because despite how amazing sex is, it _doesn't _cure hangovers."

"You have no shame Sokka; I don't know whether to be amazed and jealous or disgusted and embarrassed," Katara told me, shaking her head in mock shame since she was smiling.

"You love me, woman," I muttered through a mouth full of food and Katara laughed.

"I'm you're sister; I kinda have to," was her excuse, but I knew the truth and that was good enough for me.

_00-00-00_

"What's the update on travel time?" I asked, sitting in my father's office. I wanted to be able to cheer Katara up since she seemed so down about the whole Zuko and Mai and Azula thing; going to my father was really the only way to do it.

_The things I do for my sister. _I thought, glancing up at my father as he stood behind his desk looking out the window at the surrounding sea.

"Well I made some threats and so far travel time has been cut by almost a whole day," father told me before there was a knock at the door and a general walked in.

"Hakoda, we just received message from the Fire Nation," he began before looking over at me warily.

"Continue General," my father insisted and the general looked at me once more before nodding.

"The latest search effort returned unsuccessful; Princess Azula is still nowhere to be found and Fire Lord Ozai is beginning to fear the worst."

"If she were dead someone would have found her body. Wherever she is, she's alive. Thank you General." And with that my father had dismissed the general who bowed to my father, nodded to me, and then left.

"I figure that you'll be passing this information onto Katara." I couldn't help but stiffen upon hearing the way my father sounded, like he was disappointed yet expecting it all the same.

"She deserves to know what's going on instead of being kept in the dark," I hissed, standing up from my seat. A fight was about to happen, I knew it all too well, and there was no way I was going to take whatever _Hakoda _tried to throw my way while sitting down.

"How about you let me decide what's best for yoursistersince I'm her _father_?" he suggested, rather strongly at that, and I scoffed.

"So now you decide to be our father? Or just hers because you can't stand me?" I asked and Hakoda's eyes narrowed.

"Watch yourself Sokka," he warned and I laughed.

"Come on now _Dad_, we're both adults; let's stop fucking around, shall we?" I asked bluntly and Hakoda just remained silent. "I can't stand you; the fact that I'm forced to biologically call you my father makes me slightly sick. You've never been there for Katara and I when we needed you as kids so don't you dare try and force yourself back into our lives like you have the right to," I bit out, my jaw clenched as I felt my hands start to shake.

"Never there when you needed me? How about now? How would you go about living if I cut off your money? Tell me Sokka, how long can you go about living without money to buy your booze and support your gambling?" Hakoda quizzed me and I felt a growl vibrate in my chest.

"I don't need you to make a living," I defended and the man in front of me laughed.

"Of course you don't Sokka. Now I'm going to forget that we ever had this conversation and you're going to leave my office. We'll both act as if this never happened which means that you can continue on with your life style," Hakoda said and I glared at him for a moment more before walking over to the door of his office and pulling it open.

"I'm still telling Katara," I told him.

"I knew you would; you get it from your mother," Hakoda said softly and I was still for a moment before walking out of the office, the door slamming behind me.

_I need a drink. _

_00-00-00_

"It's barely two o'clock Sokka," Katara scolded as she walked over and sat on the bar stool next to me.

"Chill sis, I haven't had any yet… I'm just thinking about drinking it," I said slowly, realizing then how stupid I sounded.

"You need help Sokka, like serious medical help," Katara muttered, sipping from the water the bartender had brought over for her.

"That's funny Kat; my doctor says the same thing," I joked, sticking my tongue out at her.

"Cute Sokka. So what's with the drink? You usually don't drink this early unless you're upset or partying," she pointed out and I laughed lightly.

"I went to go visit Hakoda," I told Katara and almost immediately she sighed.

"Why can't you just stay out of his way? You two always end up fighting and then you're both upset and I have to deal with the cross attitudes," she groaned, rubbing her temples out of obvious irritation.

"I went to find out news about what's going on in the Fire Nation," I said and Katara froze. Slowly, her eyes drifted over to me as she held her breath and waited for me to continue. "Good news is that we should be getting to the Fire Nation almost a whole day sooner than we would have before." At this Katara's whole face lit up and it was because she seemed so damn happy that I almost didn't tell her the rest of the news.

"Bad news is that the latest search effort came back with nothing; there's still no sign of Azula."

"Thank you Sokka," Katara whispered, hugging me from the side.

"Yeah yeah, you're welcome. Now leave me in peace so I can finally drink this," I muttered playfully and Katara giggled before shoving against me playfully as she walked off. My eyes followed her as she left; seeing the small skip in her step made a smile spread across my lips.

"Is there something wrong with the drink sir?" the bartender asked and I turned my attention away from my retreating sister and instead on him.

"No, it's great," I assured him before taking out a few gold pieces and tossing them onto the counter. "Keep 'em," I said and the man bowed graciously, grinning as he pocketed the money. I couldn't help but smile softly too as I left the bar and headed for the front of the ship. The sun was still high in the sky and it reflected off the clear waters which I'm sure were still rather freezing though no ice glaciers were floating about. Because the wind had picked up as well it meant that we were near the Air Nation; I could see their high mountains sticking out of the water far off in the distance, their tips covered by the seemingly ever present clouds that hang around that area. My hopes were that we'd have cleared the Air Nation by morning though I'm sure that won't happen because the wind was currently working against our sails.

"Practice your air bending in the other direction baldies," I muttered, narrowing my eyes over in the direction of the distant mountains. Just as I was lifting my glass to finally drink from it, a strong gust of wind came up from behind me and practically _shoved _me roughly against the railing.

"Shit!" I swore, gripping onto the railing as the hood of my jacket whipped around next to my face. As the wind was going, I could have sworn that I heard laughter within it and it made the hairs on my body stand on end as I froze on the spot.

"I'll take that as a sign to stop drinking," I said aloud so that whoever had caused the breeze would hear me. I felt stupid for doing it, but no one was around to hear so to hell with appearances.

"There better be a damn good reason I stayed sober today," I muttered as I dumped my drink into the ocean. "That shit wasn't cheap."

_00-00-00_

"They need help with the back sails!" I yelled over the roar of the wind and sound of the waves crashing down on the deck of the ship. The three or so men I was talking to quickly nodded before carefully making their way to where I'd told them to go. Of course, with them gone, I was left with dealing whatever task they had been doing before I'd told them to leave. Thankfully the task was easy, just a bunch of chairs that were already folded and just needed to be taken into a storage room.

"Man overboard!" A voice rang out, the panic and roughness standing out against the sounds of nature beating against the boat. Immediately I left the chairs as they were and ran to the side of the ship so that I could look for whoever had fallen into the raging sea.

"There!" A deck hand shouted from beside me, his arm jerking out past me and pointing to an orange lump being tossed around by the waves. Quickly, I looked around for something that could save the man's life because there was no doubt in my mind that if he wasn't pulled out of the water soon he'd be dead either from drowning or the hypothermia which I'm sure had already started to settle in.

"Secure this to the ship!" I yelled over the wind, forcing the end of a rope into the deck hand's... well hands. He looked at me in confusion for a moment before quickly realizing what I was doing as I started to tie the other end around my waist; the rope almost painfully tight but it was necessary that way or else I could end up being swept away by the sea too but without a lifejacket.

"Let me go instead Master Sokka!" the man, who upon studying I realized was more of a boy probably no more than 17, insisted but I just shook my head at him as the wind picked up my wet hair and threw it violently across my face.

"Secure the rope!" I ordered before turning my back on the boy and diving into the ocean.

The water was cold, so much colder than I thought it would be, and it actually numbed my lungs as I fell into a state of panic for a moment. I thought surely that I was going to die right then in the water because my body was frozen and I couldn't seem to move, but then the waves push me upward and there was air in my frozen lungs and I was kicking against the water towards the orange figure. He was unconscious, I could tell that much by the fact that he was floating face down in the water. This just made my worry and panic worse as I snaked my arm around the man's chest and pulled him as close to myself as possible. Swimming against the waves and dragging the unconscious man along with me was hard enough, add in the fact that the strong winds pushed water in every which direction and it made it very difficult to even stay conscious, let alone alive.

"I need more men to help me pull!" I heard being cried out as I neared the ship. Never before had I realized just how high up the railing along the ship was in comparison to the water level; seeing the large gap of space where I could grab onto nothing for help made my stomach sink. My arms were aching and I was starting to lose feeling in my legs; I can't tell if they were still kicking against the water to keep me above water or if it was the men on the ship that were doing that for me.

"Pull!"

My vision was starting to go hazy and I could feel my body begin to go limp as the cold of the water spread into my bones. A large wave came from behind and smashed me up against the side of the ship and for a while I couldn't breathe but no panic set in, I just floated in the water and stared at my feet as they sank down below me.

_Hmm, I'm missing a boot. _I thought, my brain telling my body to wiggle my toes so that I could see them move beneath my sock but nothing happened, everything was frozen.

"Master Sokka!" A voice cried out for me in the distance. I was going to smirk, but then I realized that the voice was that of a male and that I wasn't in the situation that I had hoped I was.

"Someone get Miss Katara and a medic!" another voice yelled. I slowly blinked my eyes so that I could clear my vision, but it only made everything more blurry as I struggled to open my eyes again.

"Sokka! You idiot what did you do?" Katara screeched; I was just barely able to make out her figure because of how much more hair she had blowing in the wind than the rest of the people surrounding me.

"'s he aive?" I slurred, coughing up water which caused me to roll over onto my side as the taste of blood filled my mouth.

"Yes Sokka, he's alive. And don't worry, everything is gonna be alright," Katara told me and I wanted to tell her that things already were alright and that I was fine, but she felt so far away and I didn't have enough energy to yell to her.

"Sokka stay with me!" Katara screamed. I felt pressure being added to my body but felt no added warmth as I let my eyes close.

"Everyone has to move on eventually," I whispered before everything went numb.

_00-00-00_

So I know that I said I would update in like the middle of July, but end of July isn't too bad either. I know the story may seem a bit slow right now, but it's only the second chapter so there is plenty of time for the plot to pick up which I promise it does.

Thanks so much to those who replied and I hope to hear from you all again.

_Kattie_


End file.
